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Sacred Reviews: Daker's Quest

Introduction

Daker's Quest is a short comedy created by Hooliobro using RPG Maker VX Ace. Sadly, my thoughts on the game don't differ that much from InfectionFiles, but at least I managed to complete the game before I reviewed it.

Story

On the story side of things Daker's Quest is about John Daker's quest to regain his confidence after botching his performance in front of a live audience in a spectacular fashion. A failure caused by Reva Unsicker and her horrible accompaniment. On our journey to the path of redemption we'll need to learn to sing with confidence, enunciate like a man that can't sing a single word, and dance like a champion.

Sadly, this journey will be one rather bereft of laughter for a comedy game. The jokes found in Daker's Quest are largely comprised of youtube references, internet memes, and a few childish jokes such as a dog taking a dump on the main character. As for why the comedy fails in my opinion. I think, it's largely down to the fact that the jokes are meant to appeal to a rather limited audience. As such a more general audience will largely feel as if the comedy falls flat.

Gameplay

On the gameplay side of things Daker's Quest is a rather simple turn-based affair with a few set encounters. Though the player neither gains money nor experience from defeating those that get in John's way. Though, I suppose this doesn't really become an issue until Reva Unsicker reveals her final form. Up to this point all of the bosses/enemies were rather manageable, but her final form requires you to pray to the gods and goddess of random number generation in order to succeed. This is because in order to defeat the final boss you'll need to hit her with your ultimate attack at least four times. An effort that is far more difficult then it needs to be. This is because the player can only heal once over the course of this battle and the final boss is rather fond of spamming an attack that cuts your health by more then a third. In fact, in one of my matches against her final form she slapped me with "bwarg" three times in a row. Which meant I was in a situation where I was pretty much guaranteed to die seeing as how her final form gets to attack twice on it's turns and is so much faster then the player that she will always get to attack first.

While, I don't want to hate Daker's Quest because of this issue. It is hard not to feel highly irritated at the fact that this game requires the player to get lucky in order to beat it. Thankfully, it doesn't require as much luck as Duel Network: Cheater Invasion! in order to beat, but that is a rather small caveat in the face of such a poorly designed final boss.

Outside of combat the game always requires the player to dance like a champion. A task that is accomplished by closely following your teacher's moves in the local colosseum. Though how this teaches you to sing like a champion is beyond me.

Graphics

On the graphical side of things the game runs rife with amateur mistakes when it comes to the mapping. Though, I'm willing to forgive this issue seeing as how this is Hooliobro's first game in a long time. On the downside I'm not willing to forgive the game for using enemy battle sprites that are clearly lifted from three different sources. In my opinion, the enemies in a game should all feature common design elements. Something that can't be achieved if you carelessly use enemies from three different sources.

Sound

On the sound side of things the game features a few quirky sound effects, your usual fare of RTP music, and the inclusion of some songs with actual lyrics. Though, oddly enough this odd fusion does work rather well. So, I'll have to give props to Hooliobro for this aspect of the game.

Conclusion

Daker's Quest is a short comedy game that really falls flat outside of the small niche audience it would appeal to. Add in the fact, it features a final boss that is difficult for all of the wrong reasons and your left with a game that will be a rather terrible experience for most. As such, I can't really recommend this game to anyone. Though, I do hope Hooliobro continues to improve upon his/her skills.